July 2023

The view from our kitchen with our new door in, so wonderful to see the ocean, even if just a glimpse! It has been worth the wait and planning, much discussion and debate went into the placement of this large, (and very expensive), door 🙂

It was a beautiful sunrise the other morning and Rich managed to capture this, so beautiful…

It has been a few weeks since I last posted, so much going on I have just not found the time to sit and write. Luca’s holidays have come and gone. He had a good rest, the Science Festival once again proved a hit, jam packed full of things to do, he and Rich went to some evening sessions this year that they enjoyed a lot. The university open days were included in the week and we have gone each year to this as well. It is good for Luca to talk to students doing the degrees he is interested in, inspiring and helpful in his planning for the future.

Otago University is definitely a choice for him, but we are encouraging him to look at all his options. He is always impressed by the look and feel of the old buildings that make up the University.

He is now back to the school routine…

Homework….

School shoe polishing…

icing cakes that Rich has made for the Friday cake sharing..

It is not all hard work though 🙂

Our place really starting to move along. It is a constant dust storm in here, my attempts to keep it clean are futile, however bit by bit we are seeing our vision coming together. Rich has been working so hard at getting things done, as usual his work is amazing. Here is some of the progress…

I am itching to take the green covering off our front door, (it is wood underneath), but need to leave it until things are finished so it does not get scratched. It is amazing to actually have a front door! The little side door we have been using to come in and out of the house for 4 years, always made me anxious, when you opened it little stones would get caught in it and scratch the wooden floors. Whoever installed it did not put a big enough gap under it so a mat would not fit. It really is the little things that make life easier…

The bedrooms Rich has been gibbing and painting up a storm in, such hard, difficult work..

We currently have things piled high in Luca’s room, while Rich does the 3rd bedroom, the carpet guys are coming out next weekend, along with ,(fingers crossed), the electrician, wahoo!!!! Our plan is then to move mostly into the extension while we work on the current living space.

The hallway has proved to be a good addition to our plan. It was not in our initial design, as it did take away from the other rooms space wise, but we are very pleased now we did it this way, the flow is so much more practical

I have paint sample put up everywhere trying to decide on the new colour scheme…

This winter has not been a bad one for us so far, but the fire is still needed to keep things toasty. These two find it very relaxing and difficult to leave! 🙂

This time last year Rich was in Canada. It is hard to believe it has been a year since Jen died. We all miss her terribly. Luca would have been 3 here, Jen had come to visit us in Manitoba, I love this photo . Jen always made such an effort to be part of our lives, coming to wherever we were, something I will always be grateful for.

So here we are at the end of July, spring just starting to show us signs that she is coming. My bees are very busy and the chooks have started laying again. I have plans to add to our menagerie this year. It will be good to be done with the inside of the house and be able to get out on the land again. We get in regular short hikes each weekend, but we are looking forward to getting back to doing longer ones, our weekends and overall lives have been a bit taken over by this build, but the end is in sight now.

I have this on our deck, when this plant begins to flower here in Otago, you know the winter is coming to an end…